I’m often asked, “But, what is it that you do?”
My response, “I’m a Career Consultant … for Creative People.
We sit, we talk, often on the phone, and we look into your process, your habits, your goals, your sticking points. Together, we clean out your ‘creative’ closet and put things back where you want them. Sometimes we add some treasures to the pile.”
Try this as an example. This is one of a series of exercises I developed when I worked in the Creative Development department at Walt Disney Imagineering. It was my job at that time to interview the artists there to find out who might work best on which project teams. Enjoy!
Your Body-Knows Quiz (Exercise: approx. 10 min.)
You’ll need 5 pieces of notebook-sized (or larger) paper and a pen, pencil, different colors if you like, or not. Or, you can do this on computer if you like.
Read these instructions before you start … and you can refer back to them.
First of all, relax. This is no big deal. Take a deep breath, or two.
Take as much time as you like … there’s no hurry.
If responses come to you the next day, add them then, or later.
Any words you write are helpful. Or none. Whatever.
Don’t be so hard on yourself.
Are you still relaxed? (Relax your jaw, relax your tongue.)
Instructions…
Title your 5 pages by writing one of these words at the top.
Page 1 – HEAD
Page 2 – HEART
Page 3 – STOMACH
Page 4 – HANDS
Page 5 – FEET
On the page that says “Head”, write a list (however long you want) of things you KNOW … i.e., modern art, some French, some knowledge of Civil War history, community events, how to dance, business etiquette, etc.
On the page marked “Heart”, write a list of things, people, ideas, (whatever) that you are PASSIONATE about, things you love, i.e., chocolate, R&B music, roller coasters, traveling, cartoons, flannel sheets, camping, etc. This list can be endless! (You can add more pages.)
On the page marked “Stomach”, make a list of things that you detest, that disgust you, irk you, make you ‘sick at your STOMACH’ … i.e., liars, world hunger, being in a room with no windows, eating eggplant, etc. It doesn’t matter if the items are personal or universal, but try to include both.
On the page marked “Hands”, make a list of things you know how to DO. For example… sewing, car repair, type 80 wpm, rock climbing, etc. Don’t worry about your degree of expertise…and it’s ok if some of these are on your “Head” page too.
On the page marked “Feet”, write a list of where you’re GOING. This is a list of resolutions, i.e., I’m going to clean out the garage, I’m going to travel more outside this country, I’m going to master HTML, I’m going to pay off my credit card, I’m going to master the guitar, etc.
Okay, that’s it. You’ll surprise yourself with items you rarely give yourself credit for, and you’ll see which items jump off the page, being more important than you’d thought. We rarely ‘interview’ ourselves, and this is a good start. Keep this list handy. You’ll look back at it … and add to it … all the rest of your life!
A fabulous link I discovered about the creative process, is Creativity For Life.
http://creativityforlife.com/